Sudan's Bashir vows to keep fighting

KHARTOUM, Sudan, July 5 (UPI) -- Forces from Sudan would remain engaged in South Kordofan state until the area is cleared of rebels, the Sudanese president said.

Voters in January backed a referendum for South Sudan's independence. The vote was part of a peace deal reached with Washington's help in 2005.

Conflict along the border between the north and south, however, threatens to unravel the peace initiative.

The African Union last week helped mediate an agreement that promised to end weeks of violence in Sudan's South Kordofan state.

The accord, signed in Ethiopia, calls for disarming rebels who fought for the south during Sudan's long civil war or integrating them into the north's army. The U.N. Security Council later approved of an Ethiopian peacekeeping force in the region.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said operations would continue in the southern Sudanese state.

"I ordered the Sudanese armed forces to continue their operations in South Kordofan until they clean the state of rebels," he was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying.

U.N. officials expressed concern that violence was spilling over much of the de facto border region. South Sudan gains formal independence Saturday.